About the Lecturer:  https://sites.google.com/view/theorysoftmatter/home?authuser=0

Active matter has attracted tremendous theoretical and experimental interest. Not only do active systems exhibit novel dynamics and phase behavior, they are also relevant for understanding self-organization phenomena in nature. While much of the interest in these systems has been driven by the introduction of new experimental model systems, theoretical studies of minimal active models have triggered a whole new branch of fundamental research in nonequilibrium statistical mechanics. In this course we learn

1. Minimalist toy model of active systems: Active Brownian Particles
2.  Mathematical modelling using Stochastic Calculus and Probabilistic approach (Fokker-Planck Equation)
3. Coarse graining of the Fokker-Planck equation using various techniques (elimination of fast variables, gradient expansion, etc.)
4. Non-equilibrium steady-state of a single active particle in inhomogeneous fields (spatially varying activity, charged ABP in magnetic field, etc.)
5. Behavior of active-passive dimers in activity gradients: minimal model for chemotactic systems.
6. Activity on nanoscale inside cells: biopolymer networks
7. Brownian dynamics simulations of active Brownian particles
8. Computational modelling of biopolymer networks as collection of elastic filaments.

Background: Basic knowledge of (classical) statistical mechanics